Jan. 22, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Bragging rights in a heated rivalry and first-place in the Patrot League are among the prizes in the weekend's men's basketball matchups. Two contests will be played on ESPNU, with first-place on the line when American visits Holy Cross on Saturday at 2 p.m. and another rivalry matchup between Navy and Army on Sunday at Noon.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Weekend Preview - 1.22.09

Patriot League Notebook

Rivalry Weekend in Patriot League Men's Hoops

Two of the Patriot League's premier rivalries highlight the weekend men's basketball slate, which also includes a pair of contests that are rematches from last year's League Tournament. The action includes nationally-televised games on ESPNU on both Saturday and Sunday, with American and Holy Cross facing off from Worcester on Saturday at 2 p.m. and service academies Navy and Army playing at West Point on Sunday at Noon.

Lehigh and Lafayette open the weekend when they face off in Easton on Saturday at 1 p.m. The home team has won the last five games in the series. The Eagles and Crusaders tip one hour later from Worcester as they meet for the first time since American earned a tightly contested 62-60 win at home in last year's Patriot League quarterfinals. Colgate and Bucknell complete Saturday's action with a 7 p.m. game in Lewisburg. The Raiders beat the Bison, 54-40, in Hamilton to advance to last year's Patriot League Championship.

Navy and Army complete the slate with Sunday's contest. The schools have split the last 10 meetings, and have split the regular-season series in each of the last five seasons. Army has won the first matchup of the year in each of those five campaigns.

Home Teams Win on Wednesday

Home cooking was in full effect on Wednesday night, with Navy, Bucknell and Colgate all earning wins on their own court in Patriot League men's basketball action.

The Mids pulled into a tie for second place in the League standings with Holy Cross by knocking off the Crusaders, 74-68, in Annapolis. Bucknell notched its first Patriot League victory of the season with a 71-61 triumph over Lafayette. Colgate picked up its first home win of the year by beating Lehigh, 58-45.

American and Army were off on Wednesday, as the Eagles are now the only remaining unbeaten team in League play.

Plenty of Television Coverage Over the Weekend

All four Patriot League men's basketball games will be broadcast by a national or regional outlet over the weekend. Two games will be shown through the League's package with ESPNU, with American visiting Holy Cross on Saturday and Navy at Army on Sunday. Lehigh and Lafayette will renew their rivalry on the Lafayette Sports Network on Saturday afternoon, while the Colgate at Bucknell game will be broadcast by SPORTSFever TV and will air on tape delay on Sunday at 7 p.m. on WQMY (MyTV in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market).

American/Holy Cross Part of Campus Connection Week

The American/Holy Cross contest on Saturday comes on the final day of ESPNU's Campus Connection week. The extra features include graphics on student-athletes, play-by-play calls from Holy Cross' student radio broadcast and additional enhanced coverage for the student-athletes.

Early Trends In Patriot League Action

Last year's Patriot League season featured plenty of close calls and success for visiting teams, but the 2008-09 season has not started down the same path. Home teams have a 10-5 record through the first 15 League games, and 11 of those contests have been decided by 10 points or more. More games have been decided by 20 points or more (three) than five points or less (two).

American Off to First 3-0 Start

American earned its first Patriot League title last season, and the Eagles have kept the good times rolling by getting off to their first 3-0 start in Patriot League play this year. The Eagles are in their eighth season as a League member. American has won seven consecutive games against Patriot League teams counting last year's Tournament, and has beaten every team but Navy during that stretch. American's current six-game win streak is tied for ninth-longest nationally.

Navy Remains Perfect at Home

Navy extended its perfect home record to 9-0 with a 74-68 win over Holy Cross on Wednesday. The nine-game home winning streak is tied for the second-longest in Navy annals. The Mids are one of 37 Division I teams that still have an undefeated record at home, and one of only 17 of those teams whose undefeated record consists of at least nine victories (through Wednesday's games).

Patriot League's Top Road Teams Go For Wins This Weekend

Four teams account for 21 of the 27 road wins by Patriot League squads, and each will try to earn another victory away from home over the weekend. American leads all Patriot League teams with six road wins, making the Eagles one of only 15 teams in the country with at least six road victories this season (through Wednesday's games). Colgate, Lehigh and Navy all follow with five road wins.

Navy's Kina Joins Exclusive Company

Navy senior guard Kaleo Kina has put himself in rare air in the Patriot League record books throughout the 2008-09 season. He became just the fifth student-athlete in League annals to earn three consecutive Player of the Week honors in December, and later became the seventh honoree to receive the award four times in a season. Now, Kina joins an even less populated group. He recently became the third Patriot Leaguer with at least 1,300 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals in a career. Kina joins Lafayette's Brian Ehlers (1996-00) and Holy Cross' Kevin Hamilton (2002-06) as players to accomplish the statistical feat.

Patriot League Back On ESPNU

The Patriot League will have completed four of its six appearances on ESPNU after the weekend's action. The remaining games on ESPNU are Colgate at American on Feb. 14 and Lafayette at Lehigh on Feb. 22.

Patriot League All-Access Returns in 2009

Watch the majority of Patriot League Men's and Women's Basketball regular-season League and tournament games on high-speed Broadband on the Patriot League All-Access package. For $9.95 a month, this cutting-edge technology takes you from your seat to the sideline with multi-camera coverage.

Patriot League Games

Lehigh (11-7, 1-3 PL) at Lafayette (6-12, 2-2 PL), Saturday, 1 p.m.
Kirby Sports Center; Easton, Pa.; TV: Lafayette Sports Network
Series: Lafayette, 136-72 Streak: Lafayette, One Win
Last Meeting: Lafayette, 78-60 (2.23.08) Last Lehigh Win: 60-55 (1.26.08)

Archrivals Lehigh and Lafayette play their first meeting of the season in Easton on Saturday afternoon...The teams split last season's series, with each squad winning at home...Lehigh notched a 60-55 win in the first meeting on Jan. 26, with Lafayette coming back with a 78-60 triumph on Feb. 23...They split the two games for the second year in a row, and the home team has won the last five meetings in the series...Lehigh has not won at Lafayette since 2006...Lafayette is up, 136-72, in the all-time series, and 19-17 in regular-season League games.

Lehigh Lehigh dropped to 1-3 in Patriot League play with a 58-45 loss at Colgate on Wednesday...It was the first time in the last eight meetings in the series that a game was decided by double digits....The Mountain Hawks lost their third consecutive road game after starting the year 5-1 in road contests...Dave Buchberger led Lehigh with 13 points, while Zahir Carrington had 11...Marquis Hall chipped in with nine points, and moved to within five points of 1,000 for his career...Carrington led the way with nine rebounds...Lehigh made 12-of-15 free throw attempts, but could not overcome a 29.6 percent effort from the field that included a 1-for-17 mark from three-point range...Lehigh completes its brief two-game road trip against Lafayette on Saturday.

Lafayette The Leopards saw their two-game winning streak come to an end with a 71-61 loss at Bucknell on Wednesday...Lafayette is 2-2 in Patriot League games, with the victories coming at home and the losses on the road...The Leopards have lost eight consecutive road games since opening the season with a win at Wagner on Nov. 14....Andrew Brown paced Lafayette with 19 points against the Bison....The Leopards came from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the score with 9:57 left, and trailed by just one with 3:49 to go before Bucknell pulled away...Lafayette had 13 assists with just 12 turnovers, but endured a tough shooting night from long range with a 6-for-24 effort....Lafayette is trying to start 3-2 or better through five games for the second time in the last five years, and second straight season after last year's 4-1 start.

American (11-6, 3-0 PL) at Holy Cross (8-11, 3-1 PL), Saturday, 2 p.m.
Hart Center; Worcester, Mass.; TV: ESPNU
Series: Holy Cross, 14-5 Streak: American, Two Wins
Last Meeting: American, 62-60 (3.5.08) Last Holy Cross Win: 66-64 (1.26.08)

American tries to stay undefeated in Patriot League action when it travels to Holy Cross in an ESPNU-televised contest on Saturday afternoon....The Eagles are 3-0 in League play for the first time in their eighth year as a Patriot League member...American and Holy Cross meet for the first time since an epic matchup in last year's Patriot League quarterfinals...The Eagles knocked off the Crusaders, 62-60, in that contest, and have won the last two meetings including a 62-46 victory in Worcester on Feb. 6 of last year...Holy Cross had won the previous eight meetings before that point, with a 66-64 victory at American on Jan. 26 of last year as the teams split the regular-season series...Three of the last four matchups have been decided by two points, including games in each of the last two Patriot League Tournaments...The teams have played all but one of their all-time meetings in Patriot League play...Holy Cross leads the all-time series, 14-5, and is up, 10-4, in regular-season League games...The Crusaders have won three of the four League Tournament contests between the schools.

American The Eagles improved to 3-0 in Patriot League action for the first time with a 79-49 victory at Colgate last Saturday...American has won a season-high six consecutive games overall, with each victory coming by double digits...The Eagles have won seven consecutive games against Patriot League teams including last year's League Tournament, and have beaten each squad except for Navy in that stretch...The Eagles moved over .500 on the road with a 6-5 record, giving them the most road victories for a Patriot League team...American ran its winning streak over Colgate to nine games, the longest active mark in a Patriot League series...The Eagles scored the first 15 points of the game to take control, and went up by as many as 32 points in the second half before settling on the 79-49 final...The Eagles were led by a huge day from senior Brian Gilmore, who scored a career-high 28 points while also setting a career-high with six three-pointers...American shot 65 percent on the way to its sixth consecutive double-digit victory, a first for the program since the 1958-59 season....American is 2-7 all-time at Holy Cross, and has never won in Worcester in consecutive seasons.

Holy Cross The Crusaders fell in League play for the first time with a 74-68 loss at Navy on Wednesday...Holy Cross is 3-1 in Patriot League action, and completed its three-game road trip with a 2-1 mark...It was the third consecutive loss against the Mids after winning the previous 17 contests between the teams...Holy Cross was led by huge efforts from Andrew Keister and R.J. Evans...Keister posted his second consecutive double-double, with career highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds...He converted 12-of-15 shots from the field...Keister has made 29-of-37 shots in Patriot League games this season...Evans had 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the year...The duo combined to keep Holy Cross in the game despite an 0-for-13 night from three-point range...Holy Cross cut Navy's lead down to 67-64 with 1:10 remaining and trailed by two with 23 seconds left, but the Mids made their free throws down the stretch to earn the win...Holy Cross held a 49-32 advantage on the glass, and scored all but its final field goal from inside the paint...With a win over American, Holy Cross will start Patriot League play at 4-1 or better for the fourth time in the last five years.

Colgate (6-11, 2-2 PL) at Bucknell (4-14, 1-3 PL), Saturday, 7 p.m.
Sojka Pavilion; Lewisburg, Pa.; TV: SPORTSFever
Series: Bucknell, 51-39 Streak: Colgate, One Win
Last Meeting: Colgate, 54-40 (3.9.08) Last Bucknell Win: 91-85 (OT) (2.6.08)

The Raiders and Bison face off in Lewisburg in a rematch of last year's Patriot League semifinal contest...The Raiders won that matchup at home, 54-40, on March 9 to advance to the League Championship game and end Bucknell's eight-game series win streak...The Bison swept last year's regular-season series by winning 65-61 in Lewisburg on Jan. 26 and 91-85 in overtime in Hamilton on Feb. 6...Bucknell has won the last five meetings between the squads in Lewisburg, with Colgate's last win coming in 2003...Three of the last four meetings have been decided by six points or less...Bucknell has a 51-39 edge in the all-time series, and a 26-10 lead in regular-season League games.

Colgate Colgate improved to 2-2 in League action with a 58-45 home victory over Lehigh on Wednesday...It was Colgate's first home win of the year, improving to 1-5 at Cotterell Court...The Radiers have at least a .500 mark through four League games for the first time since 2005...Colgate has won the last two meetings against Lehigh after losing the previous six contests...It was the first time in eight meetings that the matchup was decided by more than 10 points...The Raiders used a strong defensive effort for the win, holding Lehigh to 29.6 percent shooting and a 1-for-17 effort from three-point range...Colgate leads the Patriot League by limiting opponents to 29.6 percent from beyond the arc this season...Colgate also held a 39-32 advantage on the boards, with Alex Woodhouse leading the way with 15...Mike Venezia scored a career-high 20 points in the game, while Willie Morse added 10...Colgate used runs of 9-0 and 14-2 to take a seven-point halftime lead...They scored eight consecutive points late to put the game away after holding a 44-38 advantage with 4:56 to go...Colgate has not opened 3-2 or better in League play since 2005.

Bucknell Bucknell earned its first Patriot League win of the season with a 71-61 triumph over Lafayette at home on Wednesday...It also ended an eight-game losing streak overall, and gave Head Coach Dave Paulsen his initial League victory...Bucknell won its second straight and 10th in the last 11 meetings against Lafayette...The Bison had been 0-3 in League play for the first time before the victory...Bucknell got a balanced scoring effort, with a game-high 20 points from G.W. Boon, 14 from Bryan Cohen and Patrick Behan, and 10 from Darryl Shazier...Cohen also pulled down 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, while Shazier matched his Patriot League-leading average with five assists...The Bison saw Lafayette come back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the score with 9:57 left and trail by one with 3:49 to go...Bucknell answered with six consecutive points for a 61-54 lead with 2:23 left...Lafayette would come no closer than five points the rest of the way...Bucknell improved to 4-4 at Sojka Pavilion this season, and concludes its three-game homestand against Colgate on Saturday...Bucknell has split the first two home contests.

Navy (14-5, 3-1 PL) at Army (4-13, 0-3 PL), Sunday, Noon
Christl Arena; West Point, N.Y.; TV: ESPNU
Series: Navy, 67-41 Streak: Navy, One Win
Last Meeting: Navy, 71-63 (2.23.08) Last Army Win: 69-67 (1.27.08)

Navy and Army renew their rivalry on ESPNU on Sunday afternoon from West Point...Navy is attempting to begin League play with a 4-1 record for the first time since 2001...The series has been hotly contested over the last 10 games, with splits of the regular-season matchups in each season from 2004-08...The Black Knights have won the first meeting between the schools in all five of those seasons, including a 69-67 win in Annapolis on Jan. 27 of last season...The Mids responded with a 71-63 triumph at West Point when the teams last met on Feb. 23...Navy has won four of the last six meetings at Army...Navy has a 67-41 lead in the all-time series, and a 26-8 edge in regular-season Patriot League games.

Navy The Mids rebounded from their first Patriot League loss by beating Holy Cross, 74-68, on Wednesday in Annapolis...Navy improved to 3-1 through four League games for the first time since 2002...The Mids also moved their perfect home record to 9-0, and defeated Holy Cross for the third straight meeting after dropping the previous 17 contests between the schools...Navy was led by 20 points from both Chris Harris and Mark Veazey, who posted a career-high...Veazey made 8-of-11 shots in the game...Adam Teague also scored in double figures with 11 points, the seventh straight game that Navy has put at least three players in double digits...The Mids held at least a five-point lead for most of the second half until Holy Cross cut it to three with 1:10 left...Harris and Kaleo Kina combind to make 7-of-8 foul shots down the stretch to seal the win...Kina had nine points, as his streak of 21 consecutive games in double figures came to an end....It matched the longest streak for a Navy player since David Robinson did it in 76 straight games...The Mids held Holy Cross without a three-point field goal in 13 attempts...Navy is one of only 37 teams with a perfect home mark...The Mids go for their sixth road win Sunday.

Army The Black Knights dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 0-3 in League action with a 77-57 loss at Lehigh last Saturday...The Black Knights lost at Lehigh in a regular season game for the seventh consecutive time, though they did win in Bethlehem in each of the last two Patriot League Tournaments...Cleveland Richard and Julian Simmons led Army with 14 points apiece, but Lehigh led throughout...It was Simmons' fourth double-digit scoring game in the last five outings, and sixth this season...Army assisted on 16 of its 21 field goals and had just 13 turnovers, but shot only 36 percent from the floor...The Black Knights used their eighth starting lineup of the season, with Tyrell Thompson back as a starter for the first time since Nov. 23...Army kicks off a three-game homestand as it completes a stretch of five of the first six Patriot League games at Christl Arena.